Structure
by sammispn226
Summary: An argument causes Sakura to decide she needs to leave Team 7. But how long will she last without them? More importantly: how long can they last without her? Slight sasusaku.
1. Catalyst

**I tried to make this clear within the story, but just so you don't get confused: Naruto never left with Jiraiiya. Sasuke trained with Orochimaru for a couple years, but has since killed him and returned to Konoha. He has not yet killed Itachi. Sakura has begun medical training with Tsunade, who is Hokage. All three are chuunin and are training with Kakashi.**

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Chapter 1: Catalyst

Sakura tightened her forehead protector, trapping her pink hair more firmly underneath it. She exhaled a deep breath slowly and focused her chakra once again, concentrating on the pond before her – "suiton: suijinheki no jutsu!"

Water sprung up before her in a solid screen, reaching several feet above her and to each side. She held it steady for a moment before she lowered her hands, letting the water shield splash back into the pond.

Sakura stared listlessly at the pond for a moment, then glanced behind her to where Naruto and Sasuke were sparring, Kakashi watching closely. They were practically across the training field, and for a moment Sakura considering sitting down to rest for a while. She'd been practicing that shield move for a solid two hours, and she couldn't go for hours without a break, like her two teammates.

She watched them for a moment, gauging whether or not she could take a break without their noticing. Her chances were pretty high, she figured, considering they hadn't been paying her any attention all morning. In fact, they really had been ignoring her a lot lately – even more than usual. She could practically take a nap behind that tree there and they probably wouldn't even notice she was gone.

Sakura shook her head minutely. Those were the kinds of thoughts that would keep her from fulfilling her potential as a kunoichi and a medic-nin. She'd finally shed her reputation as a weak, Sasuke-obsessed girl and worked her ass off to become chuunin, a feat that took her a year longer than her teammates. Sasuke and Naruto had been progressing like crazy ever since Sasuke had shown up in Konoha, claiming he had killed Orochimaru, two years ago. They never stopped trying to outdo each other, but never managed it: Sakura could hardly think of two more evenly-matched shinobi in all of Konoha.

Sakura's train of thought was bittersweet. Warm contentment at the thought of Sasuke's return only barely overcame her dismay at what that had meant for her. The awkwardness of being with Sasuke again, every day, had coincided – or caused? – with the subsiding of her love for him. Not only that, but her importance in Team 7 had diminished. Sakura had felt like an equal when it was just her, Naruto and Kakashi. But when Sasuke returned, everything went back to normal. He was once again Kakashi's favorite student, Naruto's best friend, and the center of attention in Konoha. Sakura had fallen back to her old role of supporting her team. Sometimes, she felt like that was all she did. Support them.

The kunoichi sighed. She glanced up at the sky and saw the sun was about as high as it was going to get. Seeing that the two boys had stopped sparring for the moment, she decided to take the opportunity to declare a lunch break.

"Hiya, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out as she picked her way over a small crater near where Naruto and Sasuke had been fighting.

"Hey," she called back. "Hungry?"

Naruto brightened. "Of course! What do you got for us?"

Kakashi and Sasuke joined the two of them at Sakura's pack, which she had set down with the others'. All four sat in a circle on the ground as Sakura distributed bowls, chopsticks, and heaps of steaming noodles from a thermos. The three men began to eat with gusto as Sakura served herself last, none of them thanking her for the food. Of course.

At some point Sakura's bringing the team lunch had become a daily tradition. The men could get so wrapped up in their work – _in themselves,_ pissy Inner Sakura whispered – that they would go as long as possible without food. Now that Sakura had begun learning medical jutsu from Tsunade-sensei, she found herself trying to correct their unhealthy habits.

"This ramen is _amazing_, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried as he continued stuffing himself. Sasuke and Kakashi remained silent.

"Thanks, Naruto," Sakura answered with a half-sincere smile. It was kind of hard to be pleased over a compliment that she got practically every day, about the same thing, from the same person.

After a moment, Sakura spoke up. "Lee asked me to come watch him in the jounin exams the day after tomorrow. Do you guys want to come? It's after training," she added, throwing a glance towards Kakashi.

But with those words the air around the team changed faster than Sakura could comprehend it. The three men around her stilled. Naruto, always taking things as far as possible, went right ahead and froze in place. The air became heavy and tense; Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke all seemed to exchange a glance at once. Then, Naruto, looking worried, began to stammer.

"Uh…Sakura…" he broke off for a moment, looking to gather his thoughts. "We…we meant to tell you…" he broke off again, this time looking at the others.

"Yes?" Sakura asked a little rudely. She was on edge, rapidly trying to figure out what was going on between the three and why they were all looking so serious.

"Well…we meant to tell you…" Naruto tried again. "Sasuke and I…are…" he took a deep breath, looking like he was preparing to plunge into deep waters. "Going to test in the jounin exams."

Sakura was speechless for a moment. "_What?_ How did you sign up so late?" she asked, shocked at the news.

From the looks the men were exchanging, it seemed that Naruto was still stuck with messenger duty. "Well…we didn't sign up late." Now he looked guilty, and the expression becoming more pronounced by the second.

"What do you mean-" Sakura stopped, trying to think quickly. "What do you mean, you _meant_ to tell me? How long have you been planning this?" she looked around at the others.

By this time the blonde ninja was looking so guilty he seemed almost stricken. "About…four months?"

Sakura froze. Four months. They'd been planning to test for jounin for four months and they hadn't told her – they hadn't told her. _They hadn't told her._ She remained frozen, trying to figure out what this meant.

They were going to be jounin. Without her. Okay. That was acceptable – it hurt, but it was acceptable. Always being behind her teammates was something Sakura had learned to accept. But why hadn't they _told _her?

"Four months." she repeated. She vaguely noticed that she was still frozen in place, and that her voice had taken on a dead monotone that was nearly at a Sasuke-level. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We were just…worried about how you'd take it," Naruto's his guilty face and tone made it sound like a confession.

They were worried about how she'd take it. They wanted to protect her. They didn't want to hurt poor little Sakura's feelings. They thought she was too emotional – _too weak_, Inner Sakura interrupted again – to handle the news that her teammates were moving up and leaving her behind. Sakura sat unmoving, her face stony but her thoughts flying around and rapidly becoming tangled.

What broke her wasn't that they were moving on without her. Sakura had learned to accept that she wasn't quite as good a ninja as her teammates, and probably never would be. But she had still worked her ass off to be the best ninja she could be. She'd thought she was doing damn well considering she was practically self-taught. Kakashi had always focused on Naruto and Sasuke, but she hadn't let that stop her – she had begun training with Tsunade outside her regular training, learning medical jutsu to supplement her weaknesses in other areas. And yet, they were _still _doing things without her, _still_ didn't think she was good enough. And they didn't even have the fucking decency to tell her that straight-out. They thought she couldn't _handle_ it.

Sakura looked around at each of the three men. Kakashi and Sasuke, at first glance, seemed impassive, but Naruto was still looking uneasy as hell.

"Sakura-chan," the blonde said hesitantly, "Kakashi-sensei thinks you're great, he really does! Just not…ready…for jounin status." He looked guilty, apologetic, and eager-to-please all at once.

"He doesn't think I'm good enough," Sakura said lightly, nodding in agreement. "That's okay. I can deal with that." She paused. Turned to look at Kakashi. "I've always dealt with that."

Kakashi didn't respond; didn't move even, except that his single visible eye became more serious.

"But apparently I'm not even good enough to train with my teammates." Staring at Kakashi, Sakura's stony expression began to slip into anger. "Apparently I'm so weak I can't even help them prepare for the hardest exam of their lives – I can't even _know_ that they're doing it." At this point Sakura's calm demeanor faded entirely.

"Sakura," Kakashi said in his usual bland tone, "you are progressing, but I do not think you are ready for jounin status yet."

"Fine," the pink-haired ninja spat. "But you couldn't _tell_ me that? You had to send me away like I'm a useless little girl again?" Kakashi didn't answer. With his silence Sakura felt like her worst fears were being confirmed: that she wasn't good enough – that she was _never_ good enough for Team 7. Instead of depressed, Sakura became infuriated.

"I've been working my ass off for almost _five_ fucking years. I'm a chuunin and an adequate medic-nin. Why do I feel like once again, I'm twelve years old and no matter what I do, I can't get you to give a _damn_ about me?"

Years' worth of resentment seep out of Sakura's mouth unbidden. Abandoning her cool façade completely, her words became acidic. "Why is it that despite all my hard work and all my training, I'm still not _worthy_ of your teaching, sensei?"

This time Sakura got a reaction: a fractional raising of Kakshi's visible eyebrow. But did that mean he was sorry? Upset? Angry at the slightly mocking tone that had accompanied that last word? But at the thought of her teacher's possible anger, Sakura suddenly discovered that she really, truly, did not care. She didn't even care that Sasuke was staring at her with an unreadable expression, or that Naruto was looking at her with a very readable expression of pain. Sakura was angrier than she had been in a long, long time.

"Sakura." Kakashi began in a firm tone. "I know you are upset that Naruto and Sasuke are taking the exams without you, but you need to control yourself-"

"It's not about that!" Sakura exploded angrily.

"Sakura-san-" he started again.

"_No_." She interrupted. "Don't act like you respect me. I know you don't." And with that she stood up from the ground, grabbing her pack but leaving her lunch where it lay. She turned her back on them, giving each face one more lightning-quick glance as she did so.

"Sakura!" Naruto was also standing, holding his arms out to her and looking almost sick. He made to follow her.

"Naruto." She said firmly, giving him a hard look. He subsided, and again Sakura turned her back on the three men. She could feel herself starting to lose control – tears were forming at the edges of her eyes. She made to move away, but halted, something stopping her. She half-turned, looking over her shoulder but letting her hair cover her face.

It came out half-choked as Sakura fought furiously with the emotions that wanted to make themselves heard. She faced Naruto and Sasuke. "Congratulations." And with that, she strode away.

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**It will get happier. :) This will be either a four-chapter or a six-chapter story, depending on the outcome of some things. **

**Also, I really don't know a lot about Naruto's world (jutsus, training, honorifics, etc, etc, etc), so if you see any mistakes please let me know! I will go back and fix them. "suiton: suijinheki no jutsu" comes courtesy of .**

**Please review!  
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	2. Precipitation

**Note: Sakura has begun training with Tsunade, but only in medical jutsu, not super-strength.**

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Chapter 2: Precipitation

Sakura sat on the ground with her back against a tree stump. The rest of the tree was lying on the ground beside her. Her legs were drawn up in front of her; her arms lay atop her knees and her forehead atop her arms. Sakura was crying.

The kunoichi tried to dam the self-pity that was threatening to flood her. In the few hours since her argument – _assailment_, Inner Sakura amended – with Team 7, Sakura had fully exhausted her anger, and herself. The felled tree beside her bore the marks of a heavy beating: scratches, splinters, and gouges covered the tree's trunk and branches. But now her exhaustion made her vulnerable to the thoughts and emotions that her attack on the tree had allowed her to avoid.

Sakura's crying subsided as she calmed down and thought about what had taken place merely a couple hours ago on the training ground. Naruto's face was what came to mind first. The pink-haired ninja felt a stab of regret when she thought of how she had made her friend so upset; that certainly hadn't been her intention. None of it had been her intention, really – all those angry words had just spilled out of her mouth like vomit.

The kunoichi sighed. She wiped her face, trying to clear it of the tear tracks she knew striped her cheeks. She was glad she was out alone in the woods on the outskirts of the village; it wouldn't do for one of her friends to stumble upon her in this state.

But with that thought, an awful loneliness crept up upon her. She wondered what Team 7 – _the rest of_ Team 7_,_ she reminded herself – was doing while she was out here by herself. Probably the exact same thing they'd always been doing, she thought forlornly.

Sakura had always trained alone, or at least she felt like she did. She hadn't needed her teammates to help her train – and she didn't need them now, she told herself. The kunoichi's brow furrowed as a new thought arrived: if they weren't helping her, were they, in fact, a hindrance?

Sakura leaned back against the tree trunk and thought. If she didn't spend all her time at the training ground with Team 7, she could spend more time learning from Tsunade…maybe she could even start working at the hospital.

The kunoichi started as she felt a drop of water on her face. A teardrop? No – a raindrop. She glanced up and saw an extremely light rain falling, so light it was almost a mist. She considered going to back to Konoha to find shelter, but decided she wasn't ready to return to crowded streets yet. Besides, the rain was so light it was barely rain at all.

When Sasuke and Naruto make jounin, she mused, what would happen to her? Would she continue training with Kakashi? Probably not. Should she become Tsunade's student full-time?

Really, did Team 7 need her at all? Had they ever needed her? Scenes from the past few years drifted through her mind: Sasuke returning to Konoha with skills surpassing Naruto's; Naruto working his ass off to catch up; both of them passing the chuunin exams less than a year after Sasuke's return, with Sakura cheering them on from the sidelines. No, Sakura answered herself, and fought down tears that nearly erupted instantaneously. No, they don't need her.

She took a slow, shaky breath, and steeled herself. Sasuke and Naruto becoming jounin would mean the end of Team 7. There was nothing for it, then: she would go her way, and they would go theirs.

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Sakura arrived back at the training ground as the late afternoon sky began to darken. She watched Naruto and Sasuke doing push-ups half-heartedly while Kakashi reclined against a tree. He was neither supervising his students nor reading his orange book, but staring off into space. Sakura wondered if they were acting strangely because of her outburst, or if they thought it had been a passing anger.

She hadn't bothered to mask her chakra, so of course they all noticed her immediately. The two chuunin stopped their training and stood up; all three of them watched as she approached. The light rain had continued, and Sakura hoped that it masked the tear tracks on her face that she had tried to wipe away during her walk to the training ground.

She looked at the three men, schooling her face to be serious, but not gravely serious.

"We need to talk." None of them moved, but continued watching her expectantly.

"No," she said, slightly exasperated. "I mean really. We need to talk. Sit down." All three waited a beat. Then, to Sakura's surprise, Sasuke was the first to follow her order and take a seat on the ground. She and the others followed suit, forming a small circle. Sakura looked at the ground for a moment, gathering her thoughts.

"First of all," she began. "Sasuke and Naruto, congratulations." She gave them a small smile. "You guys deserve the jounin title more than anyone in Konoha. But…once you do become jounin…"

"If." Sasuke interrupted, watching her seriously. "_If_ we become jounin."

"No," she disagreed gently. "I know you guys will pass." As she said it, Sakura wondered briefly what would happen if they in fact _didn't_ pass. But it would just be more of the same, she thought. She had made her decision; she needed to follow it through. She took a deep breath.

"Obviously, I can't help you guys with training at all," she inadvertently flicked a look at Kakashi, whose serious face matched his students'. "There's no reason why we should keep this up."

"What are you saying?" Sasuke asked, his voice tinged with suspicion.

"Look. You two are getting along fine – you're getting along amazingly – without any help from me. Maybe it's time that I became Tsunade-sensei's student full-time."

Sakura hadn't known what reaction to expect from her teammates to this declaration, but she certainly hadn't expected the reality. Well, Naruto's was to be expected: he sprang to his feet and began to yell out something that Sakura didn't really hear. She was too busy drinking in Sasuke's expression.

His eyes were wide open, and even his mouth was slightly agape. On any other person it would be an expression of mild shock, but on Sasuke it looked like he'd been run over by a train. Sakura tried to ignore the thoughts that sprouted from the sight of his expression – why was he reacting so strongly? Did he care that she was leaving? Did he care more about her than he let on – _stop._ _Focus._

She tore her eyes away from him and noticed Kakashi's eye had widened as well, albeit less than those of his students. He looked surprised and concerned, another reaction that surprised Sakura slightly, then made her feel guilty for feeling surprised at all.

She interrupted Naruto, who was ranting about Tsunade teaching her make-up tricks. "Naruto," she interrupted gently. "Sit down. Let me explain."

He reluctantly slumped back down to the ground, closing his mouth with obvious effort. Sakura steeled herself to finish what she started.

"I'm holding you guys back," she said firmly. Naruto opened his mouth to renew his objections, but she continued before he could emit a sound. "Also, I feel like if I don't take advantage of my skills as a medic-nin, I won't fulfill my full potential as a kunoichi.

"You guys have always had a different path from me; I've had to accept that. Now you need to accept that too." Both Naruto and Sasuke looked alarmed. Naruto's expression was far more pronounced, but she could read Sasuke's just as easily.

Kakashi spoke, his tone low and serious. "Do you really want to do this, Sakura?"

She looked at him. "I _need_ to do this, sensei." This time the name was not sarcastic, but soft and slightly sorrowful.

Kakashi looked sober and preoccupied; Naruto was on the verge of tears; Sasuke had his appearance under control again, except for a gleam of worry in his eyes; and Sakura allowed her sadness to show, but not her tears, which seemed endless today. She rose.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. And she turned for home.

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**Good God, this is just about the saddest thing I've ever written in my life. Can you believe there's a happy ending barely two chapters away? I've decided this story will be four chapters long, unless a sudden burst of verbosity hits me in the next couple days.**

**Again, please notify me of any mistakes concerning Naruto's world. (Except for when I said Sasuke looked like he'd been hit by a train. I know trains don't exist in Naruto-verse, but I couldn't think of a single friggin thing to put in there.)**

**Please review! :)**


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